Disney Hires Screenwriter David DiGilio To Pen 'Tron: Legacy' Sequel

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The PlaylistJune 7, 2011 at 11:59AM

"Tron: Legacy" was a bust at the box-office you say? Maybe in December when it opened softly to a $44 million debut weekend, but slow and steady wins the race. Yes, it cost a shit-ton -- $170 million was the figure released, but some estimates had it bloated to up to $320 million. Still the the film eventually accumulated to a $400 million total worldwide and you can bet those DVDs and Blu-rays probably pulled in a major haul as well.

"Tron: Legacy" was a bust at the box-office you say? Maybe in December when it opened softly to a $44 million debut weekend, but slow and steady wins the race. Yes, it cost a shit-ton -- $170 million was the figure released, but some estimates had it bloated to up to $320 million. Still the the film eventually accumulated to a $400 million total worldwide and you can bet those DVDs and Blu-rays probably pulled in a major haul as well.

Either way, Disney seems to be happy enough as they have hired David DiGilio to write the sequel. Who? He was the the creator of the short-lived ABC show "Traveler" starring Matt Bomer which ran for only one short season. He's also recently sold a sci-fi pitch to Showtime for a show called, "Last H.O.P.E.." He also has a few other projects in development as a writer/producer including the futuristic ice-age picture "North Wind," and "The Damned" at DreamWorks.

"Tron: Legacy" screenwriters Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis were expected to come back for part two of this reboot, but were apparently waylaid with ABC's upcoming fairy tale show "Once Upon a Time." One would think they'd think again, but the writers created the show and its their baby.

A go sequel may depend on the response to Disney XD's animated show "Tron Uprising," though it helps that the VFX team that worked on developing the breakthrough visual techniques for "Tron: Legacy" have already moved over that hump and a sequel could cost considerably less.

As of right now its unclear if Joseph Kosinski will helm the picture again. It likely depends on the schedule of when this project is ready. Kosinski is deep in development on "Oblivion" over at Universal which will star Tom Cruise and will go in front of cameras this fall.. The sequel to "Tron: Legacy" will either have to wait for him, or another director will have to come on board. Depending how good the script is and how excited Disney is, we'd assume the latter might be the plan of action. [THR]